A Broken Promise
by RainingFlowers
Summary: [SCRAP Unfinished] Harry Potter won the Final Battle. In the wake of his victory, however, he died from his injuries, leaving behind a heartbroken community of friends. Now, eleven years later, Ginny Weasley struggles with keeping her life a secret.


**A/N:** This was something I wrote a long long long time ago--- one of the first fanfics I ever wrote, in fact. It's been hanging around on my hard drive for yonks, and finally I decided there was no point in leaving it there. Bear in mind, though, if there was a 'Scraps' option of Fan Fiction Dot Net, this would go in there.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. No, seriously, it's not mine! It's Jo Rowlings! I swear! Go ask her!

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A Broken Promise

A large, tawny owl soared through the sky. Bird-watchers would note several strange facts about this owl- first was the fact that it was still out. The moon had disappeared some hours ago, and the sun had already risen to the point where the people below were just starting their day on this July morning. Next, the owl was flying like an arrow, a straight, determined line. It didn't slow down, or turn around. Its eyes were not sweeping the ground, searching for its prey, but were focused straight ahead, as though it could see something beyond the normal vision of an avian. But the strangest thing about this owl was the fact that there was a letter tied to its leg. Not just any letter, but a heavy envelope made of yellowish parchment, addressed in emerald green ink. On the reverse side was a purple seal, with a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake entwined around the letter 'H'.

The owl flew over the blur of a large green field, several brown houses and a dull, grey road, before diving down towards a particular house. There were two occupants of this house: a woman in her late twenties and her eleven-year-old son. The mother was just getting up, about to make breakfast for the two of them when a tap at her bedroom window made her look up. She froze when she saw the bird and the letter, but she opened the window reluctantly and removed the envelope before stroking the bird with a shaking hand and letting it fly out of the open window. She sighed, and looked down at the envelope in her hands.

"Mum?"

She started at the sound, but relaxed when she recognised the voice and the person. She smiled at him.

"Hiya Jamie."

"That's my Hogwarts' letter, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"Yes."

Handing it over, her son read the address of the letter:

_Mr J Potter_

_The second bedroom_

_10 Gigler Close_

_Lower Latly_

_Surrey_

"Do you want to open it now?" asked Ginny. "Or have breakfast first?"

Jamie shrugged. "Let's open it during breakfast so we can discuss this properly."

"Okay. Give it here, I'll put it downstairs. Go and get washed; breakfast will be ready when you come downstairs."

Jamie nodded and trudged down the corridor towards the bathroom.

He'd received his Hogwarts' letter.

Normally, a child who had grown up knowing about the Wizarding World would be jumping about with excitement upon getting the acceptance letter, but Jamie knew that this opened a huge box of difficulties for his mother.

Once inside the bathroom, he locked the door and turned around to face himself in the mirror. A skinny boy looked back at him- he had a long thin face, with messy black hair that resisted all attempts to flatten it. His glasses covered his chocolate-coloured eyes: the only appearance, it seemed, he had inherited from his mother.

Sighing, he took his glasses off and splashed his face with water. Jamie was a surprisingly mature person for his age: he knew all about the Wizarding World, the Second War, Lord Voldemort, and, of course, his father, Harry Potter.

The Final Battle had taken place on 31st December 1999. Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter duelled, until Voldemort was defeated. However, the Boy-Who-Lived suffered a multitude of injuries himself, and he died from the later in hospital, after just seeing a glimpse of the new millennium. Jamie's mother, Ginny, had fled that night, four weeks pregnant and filled with grief.

And so, here they were. Living in the shadows of both worlds, under the false names of Jennifer and James Harrison.

Jamie splashed some water onto his face and thought about the father he had never known. Harry Potter was worshipped in the Wizarding World, seen as the tragically fallen hero. But from what his mother had told him, Jamie knew that Harry had loathed the publicity and the fame, and detested the huge burden of the prophecy on his shoulders. But he always did what he felt was right, and erased Voldemort in the memory of James and Lily Potter, Jamie's grandparents; Sirius Black, their best friend; Albus Dumbledore, the best Headmaster Hogwarts ever had; Cedric Diggory, an innocent victim who was in the wrong place and the wrong time, and all the other people who had perished at the hands of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He didn't destroy Voldemort because of a stupid prophecy, but he did what his heart was telling him to. And in the end, the light side had won, but with a huge price. That price had cost them Jamie's father.

He quickly brushed his teeth and washed, then threw on some clothes and went downstairs to the smell of bacon and eggs, one of Ginny's specialities. She's charmed the gas cooker to fry them for just long enough for the food to be absolutely delicious.

He sat down at the small table in their kitchen, noticing the Hogwarts' letter placed on the edge of the table near the wall. Jamie quickly averted his gaze from the yellow envelope, and instead concentrated on the plate of bacon and eggs, which his mother had just placed in front of him.

"Thanks Mum."

"No problem."

Ginny sat herself opposite her son, with an identical plate of breakfast in front of her.

"Well here you go," said Ginny, with a grand theatrical flourish as she picked up the letter and handed it towards Jamie.

Laughing at his mothers' antics, he took the letter and peeled open the purple wax seal. He scanned first one piece of parchment, then the next.

"Nothing different from what you told me the letter should say, except that it's signed F. Flitwick instead of M. McGonagall," he announced.

Ginny hit herself on the head playfully. "Well, as Flitwick did in fact take over the role of Deputy after McGonagall became Head, I would assume so!" she laughed.

Jamie smiled at her. "Well, yeah… but…" the mood tensed slightly in the room. "… should I go?"

Ginny sighed, abandoning all playfulness. She put down her knife and fork, then looked Jamie in the eye.

"Jamie, I know that you respect my decision to stay hidden, but," she shrugged helplessly, "I can't hide forever. Maybe you going to Hogwarts will help us back into my old family and friends. Not to mention you need your education."

"But mum, you know that you can never fit perfectly back in with all your friends. You've been missing for almost thirteen years, it'll seem as though you've risen from the dead. And you know full well that I can get private tutoring, with all that gold stashed in Dad's bank account."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to use all of Harry's money," Ginny said uncomfortably. "I know that he practically shared his account with me, but I've hardly been adding anything to that account." Ginny was still a Weasley, and she hated charity. Therefore, trying to make up for using Harry's money, she worked as an assistant nurse in the local hospital. Not quite her dream to be a Healer, and the muggle technique was quite a bit different from the Wizarding, but it was a job. "And anyway, your dad. He loved Hogwarts; he would be really upset if you don't go. He never finished his education, because of his stupid destiny," Ginny sounded quite bitter here, "so he needs you to go to Hogwarts and do the thing properly for him. Hogwarts was his home," she concluded sadly.

"But what about you, mum? If I go to Hogwarts, I will be in the limelight as the son of the legendary Harry Potter, and you would almost definitely be exposed. People will want to know all about everything before the Final Battle, and I know that that's painful for you."

Ginny, playing with her fork but listening with rapt attention to Jamie's words, eyed her son and wondered how he could be so mature. But, on second thoughts, growing up under an alias with bedtime stories of war and destiny probably had something to do with it.

"Like I said, I can't hide forever, I've got to come out sometime, and the rest of the Wizarding World should know the truth."

Jamie sighed.

"I know I should get an education, and live Hogwarts properly for the sake of Dad, but what about you, mum? What will you do if I do go to Hogwarts?"

Ginny shrugged. "I'll probably go home after I put you on the train, and wait for half the staff at Hogwarts to bang down the door."

Jamie thought for a bit.

"So you're saying, I go to Hogwarts, wait for someone to recognise me, either by my appearance or my name, then I'll probably be cornered and questioned. And I'll tell them the truth?"

Ginny cocked her head to one side as she debated about his plan.

"Don't tell them the whole truth," she said eventually. "Just the basics, like 'Yes, Harry Potter is my father, my mum is Ginny Weasley and we've been living in Surrey for all my life.' So just tell them our address, and I'll tell the details and the story."

"But what then?" Jamie pressed. "There'll be press conferences, if the press is anything like what you told me, and I know you well enough that I know it will hurt everyone, including you, to go back to your family."

Ginny smiled sadly. "But it will be a happy hurt, Jamie. Sometimes pain is worth living through, and I do love my family. I've missed them so much since I ran away, but I needed some time to myself. And then you came along- no, I'm not saying any of this is your fault, Jamie, so stop looking at me like that. You came along when I was so unhappy, and then I just suddenly loved you so much. My depression basically went away, and I went on celebrating Harry's life instead of mourning his death, and raised you up with love, the way your dad would have wanted it. But I've hidden for long enough, and I think it's about time I went back to my family."

Jamie sighed again and slumped back in his chair.

"I still don't like it," he said, "But I'll go to Hogwarts if you're ready to go back into the Wizarding World and your family."

Ginny smiled slightly at her son's words. There were times, like this, when she was reminded irresistibly of Harry. It took a lot of willpower to stop herself from thinking that Jamie was in fact Harry. It was bitterly ironic comparing her situation to Sirius and Remus', when they would have to remind themselves that Harry was Harry, not James. But still, she treated her son like an equal and never bothered with white lies or patronising words.

She looked Jamie straight in the eye.

"I'm ready."

He smiled at her.

"Then I'll go."

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**A/N:** Yes, I know, it's short. Oh well. I liked it when I wrote it, though... A good year or so ago... wow, that's a long time... but yeah. If it's worth it, review! 


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